SUNDAY SOLILOQUY: It starts in Newfoundland but ends up in McCalla, Alabama – but few people know about it

The Mountain Stops Here

by

Shannon Hollon

Many folks in the hamlet of McCalla Alabama don’t know that the Appalachian mountains ends in their backyard. The oldest mountains in the United States of America(480 million years) starts in Newfoundland and 1600 miles later ends in McCalla. Before erosion they were higher than the Alps or Rockies.

Geographic Terminus (Tannehill Historical State Park)

This range that stretches from Birmingham to McCalla had another oddity it is one of the few places in the world where all the main ingredients(iron ore,coal, limestone) for iron and steel making can be found in some places less than 3 miles from each other.

Map from 1865 of Roupes Valley

The highland range called Red Mountain(due to iron ore content) Rock Mountain and Shades Mountain are sandwiched in between the Cahaba and Warrior Coal fields which created Jones and Roupes Valley that was settled in 1816 and soon became the birthplace of the iron and steel industry of the South.

Filled with drama, suspense, humor, and romance, DISCORDANCE continues the family saga from the Tapestry of Love series with the children of Mary Dixon who married Thomas Cottingham. Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1)is a novel inspired by the experiences of the Cottingham family who immigrated from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Alabama.

Shannon Hollon lives in McCalla Alabama graduated from McAdory High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Served 9 years in the US Navy Seabees with one tour in Afghanistan.Currently employed with US Steel and serving on the board of directors for the West Jefferson County Historical Society. http://wjchs.com/

Shannon Hollon lives in McCalla Alabama graduated from McAdory High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Served 9 years in the US Navy Seabees with one tour in Afghanistan.Currently employed with US Steel and serving on the board of directors for the West Jefferson County Historical Society. http://wjchs.com/

Obviously, a lot of places are trying to grab a piece of this pie but I was under the impression that Flagg Mountain in Weogufka, Alabama was the terminus for the Appalachian Mountains. There have been some discussions of extending the Appalachian Mountain Trail to Flagg Mountain and it does unofficially connect with the Pinhoti Trail on Cheaha Mountain which ultimately connects with the Appalachian Trail. Perhaps, we need an expert opinion and I am not an expert! 🙂

Cap Gaspe in Quebec Canada is the end of the North American portion. Called International Appalachian Trail when enter Canada. We have been there to the plaque about it – beautiful! At a lighthouse overlooking sea.

I just wonder how one part of the earth can be older than another when the entire earth was created at the same time, and how does this person know about the erosion. Land that has forests growing on the land soil does not erode when it is covered with vegetation. I greew up in that area back in the late 1940’s through the mid 1960’s so I know that area. McCalla is just Southwest of Bessemer Al.

Tracey Bagwell you are the one that needs to study a book that really tells you how the mountains were formed. It is called the BIBLE. It plainly states that God created the heavens and the earth.What I would realy like for you to9 explain top me is who was around back then to measure the height of the mountains and what instruments did they use to measure them

Well sir after thousands of years of different plates smashing together the plates had to go somewhere so they went up, thus therefore forming mountains.im sorry sir that you’ll weren’t as educated in the 40 thru the mid 60s, but never stop educating yourself and you’ll have a lot less questions.try shutting your mouth and opening your ears.

We are excited here at AP. Our latest volume in our popular Alabama Footprints series has been released.

The eighth edition, BANISHED, documents The Indian Removal Act called for the “voluntary or forcible removal of all Indians” residing in the eastern United States to the west of the Mississippi River. Between 1831 and 1837, approximately 46,000 Native Americans were forced to leave their homes in southeastern states. Available in paperback and ebook at this link

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